Devastating earthquakes wreaked havoc on Syria and Turkey earlier this week, leading to a humanitarian and infrastructural crisis in regions affected by the quakes. Crypto companies like Binance, KuCoin, OKX, and Bitfinex have come together to provide immediate financial aid to the victims of the natural calamity. These crypto firms have collectively pledged $9 million (roughly Rs. 75 crore) in emergency funds directed towards Syria and Turkey. The Avalanche Foundation has also donated $1 million (roughly Rs. 8 crore) as part of the relief measures.
In Turkey’s most affected regions like Gaziantep, Kilis, Kahramanmaraş, Adana, and Malatya, Binance has decided to airdrop its native BNB tokens worth $100 (roughly Rs. 8,267) to its customers.
“Identification of the users will be based on Proof of Address (POA) completed before Feb 6th in 10 cities where the earthquake has had significant impact. While the POA method has its limitations and inaccuracies, it is the best method we have available for us to locate potentially impacted users. We estimate the total donations will be around $5 million (roughly Rs. 40 crore),” Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance wrote in a blog post.
The BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange has decided to contribute the proceeds from its recently held Trading Competition to Turkey’s Red Crescent organisation.
Our thoughts are with all the people who have been affected by the tragic Turkey-Syria earthquake today.
BitMEX will be donating the proceeds of this week’s Trading Competition to the @RedCrescent, and we encourage those who can donate to do the same. #GeçmişOlsunTürkiye
— BitMEX (@BitMEX) February 6, 2023
Meanwhile, Haluk Levent has teamed up with charity organisation Ahbap to create a multi-signature wallet to accept crypto donations towards relief funds for affected areas. The wallet is built on the BNB blockchain. The Block reports that Levent’s digital wallet has already collected $170,000 (roughly Rs. 1.4 crore) in the Binance USD stablecoins.
A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale struck Turkey on February 6, impacting several regions including Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria. Turkey and Syria have emerged as the most adversely affected regions.
Videos of buildings collapsing in the blink of an eye during the earthquake surfaced on social media. The death toll from the earthquake reportedly exceeded the 7,800 mark as of Wednesday.